About Elizabeth
Elizabeth McKinley is a licensed professional counselor (LPC) in Colorado with 27 years of clinical experience. She focuses on helping people manage depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and the fallout from trauma and abuse. She also supports parents and individuals dealing with relationship strain, grief, and stress related to caregiving and work.
Her practice blends practical talk and skills work. She uses client-centered methods to follow what matters to the person in the room.
How Elizabeth works
She pairs that with cognitive behavioral techniques to change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. Mindfulness practices are offered for reducing stress and increasing present-moment awareness. Elizabeth also draws on existential ideas to help people find meaning after major life changes.
She uses elements of the Gottman Method to address communication and relationship patterns. These tools are selected to match each person’s unique concerns, goals, and life context. She has long experience with family-related issues such as blended family adjustments, adoption and foster care concerns, abandonment, and family-of-origin dynamics.
She also helps people facing caregiver stress, aging and geriatric questions, and the emotional effects of natural or human-caused disasters. Sessions focus on clear, doable steps. Clients work on thought patterns, communication skills, and routines that support mood and relationships.
The overall goal is more resilience, clearer decisions, and a stronger sense of self moving forward.
Elizabeth lists 9 ways of working on the entry:
What Elizabeth works with
The areas below are the ones Elizabeth selected when setting up a profile. The first few are listed as the main focus; the rest are also named.
- Family conflicts
- Trauma and abuse
- Bipolar disorder
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Avoidant personality
- Blended family issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Domestic violence
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- HIV / AIDS
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Jealousy
- Life purpose
- Men's issues
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Narcissism
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Personality disorders
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Stress, Anxiety
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Training and background
| Register | LPC |
|---|---|
| Years in practice | 27 |
| Languages | English |
| Session format | Online: video, phone, live chat or messaging |
| Country | Colorado |
Memberships and registers are shown as supplied; they are not licences, and this directory does not verify them.
Online support options
Therapeutic approaches for online care
Elizabeth primarily combines client-centered work and cognitive behavioral therapy to address mood and relationship issues. Client-centered therapy focuses on listening, empathy, and following the person's priorities to build insight and confidence. Cognitive behavioral therapy involves identifying unhelpful thoughts and testing new behaviors to reduce anxiety and depression.She also uses mindfulness practices to help people manage stress and stay present during difficult moments. Mindfulness can be helpful for emotion regulation, reducing rumination, and supporting coping after trauma. Choosing the right mix of methods is collaborative - the therapist will talk with each person about goals, try approaches, and adjust based on what helps most.
Online formats include video calls, phone sessions, live chat, and text-based messaging to fit different schedules and needs. Video calls are useful for longer conversations and real-time interaction. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a nonvisual check-in is preferable. Live chat and text-based messaging are convenient for brief check-ins, homework support, and ongoing contact between sessions. These options make it easier to fit therapy into work, caregiving, and travel commitments while using the approaches described above.
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Common questions
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A practical next step
Write down two things you would want to be different in six months. That is the most useful thing to bring to a first session, whoever it is with. If you would rather start now than keep reading, online sessions are the quickest route.
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